broadcastnow.co.uk 23 August 2019| Broadcast | 23
COMMENT
MAKING A SERIES about
womanhood with the amazing
Kathy Burke would be one
of the highlights of any TV
producer’s career.
However, at a time when
we are all refl ecting on issues
surrounding #metoo, and with so many women
leaving the industry (often after the birth of their
fi rst child), we felt strongly that when creating
Kathy Burke’s All Woman for Channel 4, we
needed to be doing something signifi cant
behind the camera as well as in front of it.
From the beginning, we felt passionately
that this should be an ‘all-woman’ project –
the clue, after all, was in the title. It wouldn’t
be easy to do, but it would be worth it. None
of this is to say that a male director wouldn’t
have made a great fi lm, but that sometimes in
documentary, coming from the world you are
talking about – whether that’s of class, diversity
or disability – and having experienced it your-
self, can offer up a nuanced insight that an
‘outsider’ might not be aware of.
Many women know what it’s like to be in
their 30s and panic about fi nding the right
partner and having kids, or the judgement if
they aren’t there yet or don’t want children at
all. These issues aren’t unique to our sex, but
they are refl ective of the female experience as
lived today.
Our directors, Lucy Wilcox and Louise
Quayle, embodied the team and tone that we
wanted in making this timely series. They
already had a strong track record of making
entertaining, thought-provoking documen-
taries and were going through some of the
rites of passage we wanted to explore, such as
raising young families, juggling work and
motherhood and getting married. As Kathy
herself tweeted after TX of the fi rst episode,
they are heroes indeed.The directors were entirely relatable to our
contributors and that gave the layered fi lms a
humour and understanding that we hope
shines through the series.
Recruiting an all-female team meant we
were able to see the areas – perhaps not wholly
unexpected – where women are woefully under-
represented in television production. The DoP
position and sound were tougher than expected,
but we proved there is fantastic talent out there
who we will work with again in the future.
In post-production, female offl ine editors
are scarce and in online and dubbing, almostnon-existent. But we stuck to our guns and the
end result is a funny, frank, life-affi rming series
that stayed true to the aims we had when we
fi rst pitched it to C4.
I’m incredibly proud of all the women who
made this, and the varied input that we had
from everyone involved shaped the series and
themes we decided to explore.
Kathy never wanted to create a thesis on
womanhood – her ambition was to examine
and celebrate the different choices women
make at key points in their lives. Instead of
berating and pulling women down, we wanted
to lift them up and share their varied and
diverse experiences to overcome perceptions
and confront prejudice head on.
If we were to learn anything from the experi-
ence, it would be a call for the industry to refl ect
on and encourage the important voice and role
of women in television.
We should be creating an environment
that is more fl exible in terms of working hours,
acknowledging child-care commitments and
encouraging job shares. We should be celebrating
the success of female directors, building them
up and removing the barriers that stop them
from consolidating their successes. Hopefully,
that will be refl ected at the next round of
awards. Wink, wink.
Colleen Flynn is founder and chief creative offi cer
of Flicker ProductionsRecruiting an all-female team meant
we were able to see the areas – not
wholly unexpected – where women
are woefully under-representedKathy Burke’s All Woman: Channel 4
series was made by an all-female teamWe need to create a more fl exible environment where woman can thrive, says Colleen Flynn
Where are all the female crew?
womanhood with the amazingwe are all refl ecting on issues
surrounding #metoo, and with so many women